Connector With Improved Latching Mechanism

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a connector including a connector housing and a latch including a first beam and a second beam, which first and second beam are connected with each other. The first beam includes a first locking structure and the second beam includes a second locking structure capable of locking said connector onto a counterpart in a locking position of said first and second locking structure. The first beam includes a force application element and the second beam and the connector housing are arranged to interact with each other in order to move the second locking structure from said locking position to a release position on application; of a force on said force application element. The invention further relates to a latch and a method of releasing a cable connector from a board connector.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of connectors for signal transfer orproviding power. More specifically, the invention relates to connectorsfor signal transfer or providing power comprising a latch to lock saidconnectors on and release said connectors from a counterpart, such as amating connector or a panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In order to prevent undesired removal of a connector fitted with amating connector, a connector normally has engagement portions whichengage with other engagement portions of the mating connector after theconnector is fitted with the mating connector. Typical engagementportions are locking structures such as locking hooks, while ones of amating connector are slits or grooves with which the locking hooks canengage. Conventionally, a connector with locking structures comprises acontrol mechanism for controlling the above-mentioned engagement,especially, the positions of the locking structures. The conventionalcontrol mechanism includes two buttons provided on opposite sides of theconnector in a lateral direction. When the buttons are pinched and arepushed inwardly by two fingers of a user, the locking structures do notwork for a mating connector so that the engagement is released if it isestablished before or that the connector can be easily fitted with themating connector when being connected to the mating connector.

However, in some situations insufficient space is available to providebuttons on opposite sides of the connector and/or access space tooperate these buttons is limited. In such a situation, it is preferredto have a connector that can engage the connector with or to release theconnector from a mating connector or other counterpart by operating onlya single button.

On the other hand, multiple locking structures may be desired toestablish optimal engagement between the connector and the matingconnector or other counterpart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a connector with improvedlatching capabilities.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a connector that canbe connected or released in situations of limited space for providing anoperating button and/or accessing an operating button.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a connectorcomprising a latch that can be operated by a single operating button,while the latch comprises multiple locking structures.

The invention provides a connector comprising a connector housing and alatch comprising a first beam and a second beam, which first and secondbeam are connected with each other. The first beam comprises a firstlocking structure and the second beam comprises a second lockingstructure capable of locking said connector onto a counterpart in alocking position of said first and second locking structure. The firstbeam comprises a force application element and the second beam and theconnector housing are arranged to interact with each other in order tomove said second locking structure from said locking position to arelease position on application of a force on said force applicationelement.

By structuring the latch and connector housing such that a force appliedto the first beam can be suitably transferred to the second beam suchthat this second beam moves in the appropriate direction for eitherlocking the connector onto or releasing the connector from acounterpart, the first and second beam can be provided with lockingstructures that can be moved by operating only a single button coupledto the first beam. Consequently, a connector is provided that onlyrequires little (handling) space to lock the connector onto or releasethe connector from a counterpart, while the latch responsible forlocking has at least two locking structures.

It should be appreciated that the connector may either be an electricalor an optical connector and may be either a cable connector or a boardconnector.

The latch preferably is a monolithic latch.

Further, it should be appreciated that the latch may comprise a forceapplication element for each beam and that application of a force ononly one of said force application elements triggers movement of bothsaid first and second locking structure. Such an embodiment is definedin claim 2.

The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 3 is advantageous inthat the rotation mechanism of the latch provides an efficient way oftransferring the force applied on the first beam to the second beam (orvice versa) in order to release the second locking structure.

The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 4 provides theadvantage that the outwardly extending locking hooks lock the connectoronto the counterpart when no force is applied on the force applicationelement and the resilient nature of the latch is used to advantage whena force is applied to release the locking hooks from the counterpart.Moreover, the embodiment of claim 4 provides space between the beams ofthe latch for other components of the connector, such as keying means.

The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 5 provides theadvantage that the movement of the latch or portions thereof can becontrolled during application of a force on the force applicationelement of the first beam.

The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 6 provides asuitable and simple way to operate the latch. It should however beappreciated that one or more intermediate elements may be presentbetween the force application element of the latch and the user tooperate the latch.

The embodiment of the invention of claim 7 defines an embodiment whereinonly limited space is available to provide or handle a release buttonand wherein, accordingly, the invention can be advantageously applied.

The invention further provides a cable connector comprising a connectorhousing and a latch comprising a first beam and a second beam, whichfirst and second beam are connected with each other via a connectionelement. The first beam comprises a first locking hook and the secondbeam comprises a second locking hook capable of locking said connectoronto a counterpart in a locking position of said first and secondlocking hook. The first locking hook and second locking hook extend in adirection away from each other. The first beam comprises a forceapplication element and the connector housing comprises a ridge suchthat, on application of a force on said force application element, saidlatch rotates around said ridge by interaction with said second beam andsaid second locking hook moves from said locking position to a releaseposition.

By providing a ridge in the connector housing such that a force appliedto the first beam can be suitably transferred to the second beam suchthat this second beam moves in the appropriate direction for eitherlocking or releasing the connector from a counterpart, the first andsecond beam can be provided with locking hooks that can be moved byoperating only a single button coupled to only the first beam.Consequently, a connector is provided that only requires little(handling) space to lock the connector onto or release the connectorfrom a counterpart, while the latch responsible for locking has at leasttwo locking hooks.

The invention also relates to a latch comprising a first beam and asecond beam connected by a connection element, wherein said first beamand said second beam respectively comprise a first locking hook and asecond locking hook extending away from each other and said first beamcomprises a force application button for operating said latch.

Such a latch can be applied advantageously in a connector as describedabove.

The embodiment of the invention as defined in claim 10 provides theadvantage that movement of the latch or portions thereof can becontrolled during application of a force on the force applicationbutton.

Finally, the invention also relates to a method for releasing a cableconnector from a board connector. The cable connector comprises aconnector housing and a latch comprising a first beam and a second beam,which first and second beam are connected with each other via aconnection element. The first beam comprises a first locking structureand the second beam comprises a second locking structure capable oflocking said connector onto said board connector in a locking positionof said first and second locking structure. The first beam comprises aforce application element and said second beam and said housing arearranged to interact with each other in order to move said secondlocking structure. The method comprises the step of applying a force onsaid force application element of said first beam to release said firstand second locking structure from said board connector.

The invention will be further illustrated with reference to the attacheddrawings, which schematically show a preferred embodiment according tothe invention. It will be understood that the invention is not in anyway restricted to this specific and preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a cable connector in respectively anassembled state and in exploded view according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 depicts a portion of a housing of the cable connector of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 3 depicts a latch of the cable connector of FIG. 1A according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a board connector as an example of a counterpart forthe cable connector of FIG. 1A;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views of the latch of FIG. 3 in anhousing of the cable connector of FIG. 1 in operation of an embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a portion of the cableconnector of FIG. 1A including an enlarged view of a portion of theconnector;

FIG. 7 shows the cable connector of FIG. 1A locked onto the boardconnector of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 depicts a characteristic illustrating behavior of the latch;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are cross-sectional views of a latch of in a housing ofa cable connector according to a further embodiment of the invention,and

FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of the cable connector of FIGS. 9A and9B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B show a cable connector 1 according to an embodiment ofthe invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively depict a connector housing 2and a latch 3 of the connector 1.

The cable connector 1 has two cables 4, entering the connector housing 2via openings 5, with wires (not shown) connected to a series of contacts6 provided in a connector housing 2. The openings 5 and contacts 6 arearranged such that the longitudinal axis of the openings 5 in whichdirection the cables 4 extend are arranged substantially perpendicularto the insertion direction for the contacts 6.

The connector housing 2 is completed by a cover 7 with latches 8 and ascrew 9 fitting respectively into openings 10 and a threaded hole 11 ofthe connector housing 2.

An interaction structure 12 is provided on a wall of the connectorhousing 2. In the present embodiment, this interaction structure 12 is aridge.

The resilient monolithic latch 3 comprises a first beam 13 and a secondbeam 14 connected by a connection element 15.

The first beam 13 comprises a force application structure or button 16,a first locking structure 17 and protrusions 18 provided between theconnection element 15 and the locking structure 17. The lockingstructure 17 is shaped as a locking hook extending in a direction awayfrom the second beam 14.

The second beam 14 does not comprise a force application structure, butonly has a second locking structure 19 provided as a locking hookextending in a direction away from the first beam 13. The second beamalso has protrusions 20 provided between the connection element 15 andthe locking structure 19.

The connector housing 2 has an opening 21 capable of exposing the button16 of the latch 3 to enable operation of the latch 3 as will bediscussed in further detail with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. Theconnector housing 2 further has openings 22 to expose a portion of thefirst beam 13 and second beam 14 of the latch 3, in particular the firstlocking structure 17 and second locking structure 19.

The cable connector 2 of FIGS. 1A and 1B may be latched on acounterpart, such as a board connector 30 shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 7.The board connector 30 has a plurality of contacts 31 capable ofestablishing an electrical connection with the contacts 6 of the cableconnector 1 and accommodated in a board connector housing 32. The boardconnector housing 32 has openings 33 capable of receiving the lockingstructures 17, 19 of the latch 3 to accomplish a locked position asshown in FIG. 7.

The operation of the cable connector 1 according to an embodiment of theinvention will be described next with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6, 7and 8.

In FIG. 5A and 5B, a portion of the cable connector 1 is shown. In FIG.5A, the resilient latch 3 is shown in its rest position in which casethe locking structures 17, 19 of the latch 3 protrude through theopenings 22 of the connector housing 2 allowing the cable connector 1 tobe locked on the board connector 30 (shown in FIG. 7) by interactionbetween the locking structures 17, 19 of the latch 3 and thecorresponding openings 33 of the board connector housing 32.

If a user desires to release the cable connector 1 from the boardconnector 30, he may manually presses (indicated as a force F) thebutton 16 provided on the first beam 13 of the latch 3 that is exposedthrough the opening 21 of the cable connector housing 2. The second beam14 of the latch 3 and the connector housing 2 are arranged to interactwith each other by providing the ridge 12 to move the second lockingstructure 19 from the locking position of FIG. 5A to a release positionshown in FIG. 5B. Since the button 16 is applied on the first beam, alsothe first locking structure 17 is operated and moved from the lockingposition of. FIG. 5A to the release position of FIG. 5B.

More specifically, the application of a force F on the button 16 and therelative positions of the button 16 and the ridge 12 with respect toeach other trigger movement of the latch 3, in particular the top of thelatch 3 at the connection element 15, in the cable connector housing 2such that the second locking structure 19 of the latch 3 is retractedinto the cable connector housing 2. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5Aand 5B, the application of the force F on the button 16 initiates asmall rotation of the latch 3 within the cable connector housing 2around the ridge 12 to initiate movement of the second locking structure19 of the second beam 14 in the appropriate direction. Simultaneously,the first beam 13 is pressed inwardly to unlock the first lockingstructure 17 as well.

In order to control the movement and (elastic) deformation of the latch3 within the connector housing 2, the connector housing 2 comprisesguiding structures 24 as most clearly illustrated in FIG. 6. The guidingstructures 24 are arranged for guiding the protrusions 18, 20 of thelatch 3 on application of the force F on the button 16.

Further control of the movement may be accomplished by providing a stop(not shown) that limits movement of the first beam 13 on application ofa force F. Such a stop may prevent permanent deformation of the latch 3if the force F exceeds a certain value. In practice, forces F may be inthe range of 5-50 Newtons, such as 10, 20 or 30 Newtons.

FIG. 7 shows an illustration of a system according to an embodiment ofthe invention comprising a cable connector 1 connected to an locked ontoa board connector 30, connected to a printed circuit board 40, by theabove-described latch 3. The cable connector 1 can be released from theboard connector 30 by applying a force F on the button 16 which resultsin movement, more specifically retraction, of the first lockingstructure 17 and second locking structure 19 back into the connectorhousing 2 as described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. Clearly, inthe situation of FIG. 7 there is no space at the side of the second beam14 for providing and handling a further button to manipulate this beam,since the cables 4 accommodate this space.

FIG. 8 shows a characteristic for the latch 3 when a force F of 10Newtons is applied on the force application member 16 provided on thefirst beam 30. Along the horizontal axis, the distance in millimetresbetween the point of application of the force F on the button 16 and theridge 12 is displayed. Positive values indicate that the ridge 12 islocated above, i.e. closer to the connection element 15, the point ofapplication of the force F on the button 16, whereas negative valuesindicate that the ridge 12 is located beneath, i.e. farther away fromthe connection element 15, the point of application of the force F.Along the vertical axis, the distance in millimetres for displacement ofthe first and second locking structures 17,19 is displayed. Clearly, thedisplacement curve of the first locking structure 17 (lower curve)yields higher absolute displacement values than the displacement curveof the second locking structure (19), since the first locking structure17 is part of the first beam 13 on which the force application element16 is applied. Furthermore, it can be observed that the relativepositions of the ridge 12 and the point of application of the force Fhave influence on the displacement of the first and second lockingstructures 17, 19, although a locking structure displacement is achievedfor all relative distances. Clearly, the displacement is largest whenthe ridge 12 is far below (here 6 mm) the point of application of theforce F.

It should be clear that the basic concept of the invention is that byoperating only one button 16 of the latch 3, both locking structures 17,19 can be displaced. However, this does not necessarily mean that thelatch 3 should only have a single button 16, as will be shown withreference to FIGS. 9A, 9B and 10.

The latch 3′ in FIGS. 9A and 9B has a further force application element16′ in addition to the force application element 16 describedpreviously. The button 16′ is exposed through an opening 21′ of thehousing 2 of the cable connector 1. Furthermore, the housing 2 comprisesa first interaction structure 12 and a second interaction structure 12′.These interaction structures 12, 12′ are formed by edges of the housing2 in the present embodiment.

Again, on application of a force F on the button 16, the lockingstructures 17, 19 of the latch 3′ are both displaced as discussed withreference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. However, a displacement of the lockingstructures 17, 19 may also be accomplished by applying a force F′ on thefurther button 16′. Accordingly, the locking structures 17, 19 can bothbe displaced by operating either button 16 or button 16′. Such a cableconnector may be used to advantage if e.g. little handling space isavailable as a result of several connectors being in close proximity toeach other or insufficient space is available to operate both buttons.

1. A connector comprising a connector housing and a latch comprising afirst beam and a second beam, which first and second beam are connectedwith each other, said first beam comprising a first locking structureand said second beam comprising a second locking structure capable oflocking said connector onto a counterpart in a locking position of saidfirst and second locking structure, wherein said first beam comprises aforce application element and said second beam and/or said first beamand said connector housing are arranged to interact with each other inorder to move said second locking structure from said locking positionto a release position on application of a force (F) on said forceapplication element.
 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein saidsecond beam comprises a further force application element and said firstbeam and said connector housing are arranged to interact with each otherin order to move said first locking structure from said locking positionto a release position on application of a force (F′) on said forceapplication element.
 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein saidfirst beam and/or said second beam and/or said connector housingcomprise an interaction structure for said interaction between saidfirst beam respectively said second beam and said connector housing andsaid force application element is positioned relative to saidinteraction element such that said latch is capable of rotating aroundsaid interaction structure on application of said force (F, F′).
 4. Theconnector according to claim 1, wherein said latch comprises a firstresilient beam and a second resilient beam connected by a connectionelement and wherein said first resilient beam comprises a first lockinghook extending in a direction away from said second resilient beam andsaid second resilient beam comprises a second locking hook extending ina direction away from said first resilient beam.
 5. The connectoraccording to claims 1, wherein said latch comprises one or moreprotrusions and said housing comprises guiding structures arranged forguiding said protrusions of said latch on application of said force (F).6. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said connector housingcomprises an opening exposing said force application element of saidfirst beam and/or said second beam.
 7. The connector according to claim1, wherein said connector comprises one or more openings for receivingone or more cables and one or more contacts oriented in an insertiondirection and capable of establishing contact with correspondingcontacts of said counterpart and wherein an axial direction of saidopenings is substantially perpendicular to said insertion direction ofsaid contacts.
 8. A cable connector comprising a connector housing and alatch comprising a first beam and a second beam, which first and secondbeam are connected with each other via a connection element, said firstbeam comprising a first locking hook and said second beam comprising asecond locking hook capable of locking said connector onto a counterpartin a locking position of said first and second locking hook, whereinsaid first locking hook and said second locking hook extend in adirection away from each other and wherein said first beam comprises aforce application element and said connector housing comprises a ridgesuch that, on application of a force (F) on said force applicationelement, said latch rotates around said ridge by interaction with saidsecond beam or said first beam and said second locking hook moves fromsaid locking position to a release position.
 9. A latch comprising afirst beam and a second beam connected by a connection element, whereinsaid first beam and said second beam respectively comprise a firstlocking hook and a second locking hook extending away from each otherand said first beam and/or said second beam comprises a forceapplication button for operating said latch.
 10. The latch according toclaim 9, wherein said first beam and said second beam further compriseprotrusions positioned between said connection element and said lockinghooks.
 11. A method for releasing a cable connector from a boardconnector, said cable connector comprising a connector housing and alatch comprising a first beam and a second beam, which first and secondbeam are connected with each other, said first beam comprising a firstlocking structure and said second beam comprising a second lockingstructure capable of locking said connector onto said board connector ina locking position of said first and second locking structure, whereinsaid first beam comprises a force application element and said secondbeam and said housing are arranged to interact with each other in orderto move said second locking structure, said method comprising the stepof applying a force (F) on only said force application element of saidfirst beam to release said first and second locking structure from saidboard connector.